Tag Archives: Vietnam

Jim Breuer and Noreen Haddad were never able to say goodbye to their brother, lay flowers on a casket or visit him in a cemetery. Sunnyside resident Donald C. Breuer was 26 years old when he was killed in action in 1972 during the Vietnam War and his body was never recovered.

Now, after 42 years, Breuer will live on in the neighborhood he called home and in a park he and his siblings visited at a young age.

Breuer’s name, which is on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., will now become part of a list of veterans from Sunnyside and Woodside that is being engraved on a commemorative plaque at L. CPL Thomas P. Noonan Playground.

“This was our Central Park, this was the park to come and play,” said Jim, who now lives in the Bronx. “It is going to be wonderful to see his name here. I think [our mom] would be very touched.”

The plaque is part of the reconstruction and renovation of the Sunnyside playground, which was named after Lance Corporal Thomas P. Noonan who was also killed in action attempting to rescue members of his company and later awarded the Medal of Honor.

“Noonan Playground is an important community hub for our seniors, families and local children,” Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said Friday during the official ground breaking of the playground’s reconstruction. “The renovations will make the park safer for children and forever commemorate the sacrifices our local veterans made for this great nation.

Van Bramer allocated $2 million to redesign and expand the local playground as well as have a granite slab added to the base of the park’s flagpole as a monument to Noonan. The city’s Parks Department also received additional funding to renovated the basketball and handball courts.

The renovation of the park, which is expected to be completed in one year, will include the addition of play equipment, a play area for children from 2 to 5 years old and another for children 5 to 12 years old, and a new rainbow spray shower. Additional planted areas are also being created within the playground along Greenpoint Avenue and 43rd Street. Lighting will also be improved, the main entrance will be partially reconstructed and new bike racks, benches, paving and fencing will be installed.

Two years ago Van Bramer launched a Noonan Park Community Design Initiative, which brought in community suggestions from students of nearby P.S. 199 and residents on what they wanted to be done at the park.

“I believe great parks equal great neighborhoods and with the feedback we have received from the community we will rebuild a better playground that everyone can enjoy,” Van Bramer said.

The Middle Village resident was one of many who attended the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Moving Wall on Friday, June 29, when it went on display to the public.

“This is just such a beautiful thing – it brought tears to my eyes – and I’m glad it could be brought to the neighborhood for everyone to see” said Pescatore.

With residents, elected officials and others present, members of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) read the names of the 37 soldiers who hailed from Queens listed as prisoner of war or missing in action (POW/MIA).

“Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” said Paul Narson, president of the VVA #32 of Queens, which worked in conjunction with the Veterans Day Parade Committee, Maspeth Federal Savings and the United Fraternal Organizations of Maspeth to bring the half-sized replica of the Memorial Moving Wall to Juniper Valley Park through Monday, July 2.

This was the Wall’s second visit to Queens – it was on display in Cunningham Park in 2004.

Ex-Texas FBI agent convicted in NY of making false statements after having sex with source

A former Texas FBI agent was convicted Tuesday of making false statements about a confidential source after he had an intimate sexual relationship with her. Adrian Busby, 37, of El Paso, Texas, was convicted of four counts of making false statements in U.S. District Court. The charges carry a potential prison term of up to 20 years. Prosecutors accused Busby of making numerous false statements regarding the steps he took to assist the woman during a criminal trial in Queens that resulted in her conviction. Read More: Washington Post

Feds decline investigation of Queens detention center

The U.S. Marshals Service has declined to investigate allegations by activists that immigrants at a private New York City detention center have been abused. Jeff Carter, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, said Tuesday that the agency had conducted annual and spot inspections at the Queens Detention Facility since 2008. The center passed its most recent inspection in September, he said. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Make the Road New York, an immigrant rights group, called for an investigation of the center last month after saying they had received reports of mistreatment of detainees and lack of medical care at the privately operated center. Read More: Wall Street Journal

Body found along Jersey City waterfront identified as Queens woman

Detective work on both sides of the Hudson River has led to the identification of a drowned woman found floating near Jersey City’s Newport community on Saturday, officials said Sunday. The body of Yin Har Lau, 59, of Queens, was identified by her son just before noon Sunday at the state Regional Medical Examiner’s Office in Newark, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. Read More: NJ.com

$10,000 Reward Offered In Deadly Wrong-Way Queens Crash

A $10,000 reward has been posted for information leading to the arrest of a driver wanted in a deadly wrong-way crash that killed a beloved bar owner in Queens. The crash occurred around 6:45 a.m. of Oct. 15, when 37-year-old George Gibbons closed up his “Gibbon’s Home” bar in Maspeth before catching a cab to go home. Read More: CBS News

Closing Arguments Expected In NYPD’s Sean Bell Shooting Trial

Closing arguments are expected to begin Wednesday afternoon in the departmental trial of two city police officers involved in the Sean Bell shooting. Officer Michael Carey and Detective Gescard Isnora both testified that they acted in the interests of their own safety when they and three other policemen shot and killed the unarmed man outside a Queens strip club in 2006. Read More: NY1

Confessed murderer Edwin Fuentes leads cops to last of his wife’s remains hidden in Forest Park

A former butcher who copped to choking his wife and then dismembering her body led cops Tuesday to the last of her remains in Forest Park in Queens. Edwin Fuentes, 44, had agreed as part of a plea deal to show cops where to find the remains of his wife, Reina De Los Santos Reyes, a mother of two, authorities said. The remains, the last parts of her skeleton still missing, were found inside of a plastic bag within the park, which is near where the couple once lived in Woodhaven. Read More: Daily News

Grenade found inside a Queens home owned by a Vietnam vet

A grenade was found inside a Queens home on Tuesday – causing a brief panic for quiet block, police sources said. An electrician found the grenade while working inside the two-story house on 89th Ave. near 107th St. in Richmond Hill about 4 p.m., the sources said.Read More: Daily News

After serving their country, the veterans of Post 298 of the American Legion came home to serve their community.

To honor them, Councilmember Daniel Dromm visited the post, located at 30-61 87th Street in Jackson Heights, on September 19 and presented eight veterans with City Council Citations for their outstanding work towards the betterment of the neighborhood.

The councilmember, who sits on the City Council’s Committee on Veterans, praised the honorees and expressed gratitude for their contributions.

“It is important to remember the extraordinary sacrifices you have made,” Dromm told the veterans. “Now, it is our duty to ensure that we continue to provide the care and benefits that you deserve for serving our country.”

The American Legion is the nation’s largest veterans’ service organization, founded to benefit those who served during a wartime period.

The members of Post 298 were proud to host the councilmember and apreciative of the recognition he bestowed upon them.

“I think it was fantastic to have the councilmember here,” said John Polidoro, a Vietnam veteran and the commander of the American Legion Post 298. “He is constantly fighting for the city to recognize its veterans and to improve their benefits. I feel like he is attuned with what veterans have done. He was very gracious, and we were honored to have him. He was the absolute perfect person to come and meet with us.”